Notably absent at Amazon headquarters groundbreaking: Amazon

Seattle P-I reporter Aubrey Cohen has the story today about the groundbreaking ceremony for Amazon.com’s 11-building headquarters under construction in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle.

A lot of big names were present at the event, including Gov. Chris Gregoire, Cohen reports.

The event also drew Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, City Councilwoman Jan Drago, Ada Healey, Vulcan’s vice president of real estate and Chris Persons, chief executive of Capitol Hill Housing, which is getting funding as part of the project.

Notably absent from the podium and shovel line was any representative from Amazon.

Eric Engleman at TechFlash writes, “What’s up with the no-show by Bezos and crew? Amazon does have first-quarter earnings later this week, but the ceremonial event had a strange feel without any high-level Amazon presence — like the star attraction had better things to do.”